St. Joseph leads pack this week
Paramus Catholic keeps on reaching new heights after a special weekend on the mat.
The Paladins moved past Bergen Catholic for second in the North Jersey team wrestling rankings after beating the Crusaders for the first time in almost four decades. It is believed to be the highest ranking in program history for the black and gold.
St. Joseph sits atop the rankings again, while Westwood takes over as the top public school at No. 5. Westwood was one of four teams to receive a bye in the Big North Duals, along with Old Tappan, Passaic Tech and reigning champion Clifton. The publicschool showcase starts on Friday across four sites and wraps up with semifinals and finals on Saturday at PCTI.
On the individual side, four new wrestlers were added to the weight class rankings this week. The first one comes at 138 pounds with West Milford’s Colin Menier sliding onto the list. The other three are all at 165 – Passaic Valley’s William Capizzi, Becton/WoodRidge’s Jordan Stallone and Wayne Valley’s Nick Barone.
Barone should not be confused with his namesake: Paramus Catholic’s Nicholas Barone, who is ranked at 126.
106 pounds
1 Charles Esposito, St. Joseph 14-6
2 Oumar Tounkara, Teaneck 8-1
3 Eddie Hufnagel, Paramus Catholic 8-3 4 Muhammad Abuhadba, Passaic Tech 15-3 5 Kaleb Ambrose, Hawthorne 8-2
113 pounds
1 Nathan Braun, Bergen Catholic 2-1 2 Jon McGinty, St. Joseph 10-4 3 Jack Bergmann, Lakeland 13-2 4 Delvan Rotte, DePaul 11-4
5 Jack Lorper, Hawthorne 9-1
120 pounds
1 Mikey Bautista, St. Joseph 8-5
2 Devin Ryan, New Milford 15-4 3 Christopher Nucifora, Bergen Catholic 9-5 4 Brian Little, Don Bosco 9-5
5 Joseph Rizzuto, DePaul 10-4
126 pounds
1 Brian Melamud, Bergen Catholic 5-3 2 Vincent Paino, St. Joseph 11-4 3 Joseph Petriello, Dumont 8-3
4 Najati Salim, Clifton 15-2
5 Nicholas Barone, Paramus Catholic 8-3
132 pounds
1 Santino Danise, Don Bosco 10-5
2 Sowzrawca Tsay, Wayne Hills 9-2
3 Ryan Mitchell, St. Joseph 5-2
4 Derek Rodriguez, Paramus Catholic 7-4 5 Kieran McNeil, Lyndhurst/North Arlington 7-1
138 pounds
1 Dylan Ross, Paramus Catholic 7-2 2 Ryan Langenmayr, Lakeland 13-4 3 Donny Almeyda, St. Joseph 10-4 4 Noah Kochman, Bergen Catholic 8-5 5 Colin Menier, West Milford 15-0
144 pounds
1 Santino Rodriguez, Don Bosco 2-2 2 Benjamin Marchetto, West Milford 11-0 3 James Sloan, St. Joseph 7-4
4 Christian Fojon, Ramsey 7-2
5 Abe Zaretsky, Paramus Catholic 5-5
150 pounds
1 Zach Ballante, St. Joseph 9-3 2 Jeremy Quezada, Dumont 10-4 3 Jake Wacha, Pascack Hills 12-0 4 Jayden Iznaga, Bergen Catholic 8-5 5 James Conklin, Passaic Tech 14-3
157 pounds
1 Ryan Ford, Bergen Catholic 16-2 2 Frank DiBella, St. Joseph 9-5 3 Joey Monticello, Don Bosco 10-3 4 Omar Tarecky, Passaic Tech 15-2 5 Sean Walker, Lakeland 5-4
165 pounds
1 John Quinonez, Paramus Catholic 5-2 2 Benjamin Garcia, Don Bosco 6-2 3 William Capizzi, Passaic Valley 12-0 4 Jordan Stallone, Becton/Wood-Ridge 12-0
5 Nick Barone, Wayne Valley 13-3
175 pounds
1 Ryan Burton, St. Joseph 11-1 2 Michael Fuccilli, Don Bosco 5-3 3 Edward Terreri, Paramus Catholic 3-2 4 Jacob Shannon, Emerson/Park Ridge 9-2
5 Gavin Seiler, Westwood 12-2
190 pounds
1 Daniel Rella, Paramus Catholic 12-1 2 Kaleb Jackson, St. Joseph 6-2 3 Pantaleo Varga, Bergen Catholic 13-6 4 Nevin Mattesich, Don Bosco 9-3 5 Frankie Martino, Passaic Valley 7-1
215 pounds
1 Aidan Schlett, St. Joseph 9-3 2 Xavier Williams, Paramus Catholic 10-3
3 Dante DeLuca, Don Bosco 10-4 4 Ethan Mendel, Northern Highlands 14-0
5 Adam Mashfej, Wayne Hills 10-2
285 pounds
1 Rocco Dellagatta, St. Joseph 9-3 2 Benjamin Shue, Bergen Catholic 12-3 3 Daniel Elyash, Paramus 3-1
4 Spencer Ribitzki, West Milford 14-0 5 Robert Ekins, Don Bosco 9-4
Top 25 team rankings
1 St. Joseph 3-0 2 Paramus Catholic 4-0 3 Bergen Catholic 1-3 4 Don Bosco 6-3 5 Westwood 7-0 6 Passaic Tech 8-3 7 Clifton 7-1
8 Passaic Valley 5-1
9 River Dell 9-1
10 Pascack Valley 6-3 11 Emerson/Park Ridge 6-2 12 Old Tappan 4-2
13 West Milford 7-5
14 Lakeland 5-1
15 Hasbrouck Heights 4-2 16 Pascack Hills 4-2
17 Ramapo 4-5
18 Butler 6-2
19 Wayne Hills 5-3
20 Northern Highlands 4-3 21 New Milford 6-1
22 Pompton Lakes 6-3 23 Demarest 7-4
24 Paramus 3-3 25Cliffside Park/Ridgefield 4-0
Tournament season heating up
The BCWCA girls wrestling invitational is almost too popular for its own good. The tournament returns on Sunday at Elmwood Park with the biggest and most decorated field in its five-year history.
There are 17 state medalists in the event this year, including four state champions: Lodi’s Leeana Mercado, Sparta’s Paige Weiss, Cedar Creek’s Riley Lerner and Kinnelon’s Kayla Vazquez. The event has always opened its doors to teams outside Bergen County, but that could change next season as the sport continues to grow. Participation in the BCWCA invitational has increased each year and went from 193 last winter to a projected 266 this weekend.
Live results will be posted on NorthJersey.com.
Weights to watch: Lerner is vying to become only the second four-time BCWCA champion, but the returning state gold medalist isn’t even the top seed at 120. That honor goes to Paramus Catholic’s Grace Riley, a Becton transfer who took down Lerner in a 7-6 decision in the Queen of the East semis.
Returning champions (current weight):
Lodi’s Leeana Mercado (107), Bound Brook’s Lennix Horsburgh (114), Cedar Creek’s Riley Lerner (120), Kinnelon’s Kayla Vazquez (132), Ridgewood’s Kamila Castro (152), Newton’s Kailin Lee (165) and Union’s Alissa Alcindor (235).